Kelechi Osemele says he “100%” expects the Jets to release him this offseason (Twitter link via Dennis Waszak of the Associated Press). This comes after a bitter back-and-forth between Gang Green and the guard regarding his readyness from shoulder surgery.
Meanwhile, Osemele’s agents say he will undergo surgery on Friday, with or without the Jets’ approval, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. If the Jets push back, they say “he will have all of his rights under the CBA enforced through the legal process.”
The Jets fined Osemele this week and it seems likely that the veteran will respond for a grievance. At this point, it would be surprising if the Jets didn’t also suspend Osemele for conduct detrimental to the team.
Osemele, who has been one of the game’s better interior linemen throughout his career, seems ready to move on from the Jets.
“It’s been killing me,” Osemele said Friday. “I’m just trying to get this done. I’ve done everything I can. I’ve been at work every day, waking up at 5 in the morning, doing all the rehab and the treatments and stuff like that. I’m like the last dude out of here at night. I’m doing everything I can. I’m working with my agent. We’re communicating with the team. There’s just not communication between the team and my doctor and my agent. It’s just been butting heads for whatever reason. Hopefully, it gets resolved soon.”
Soon, the Jets may move on from him.
If he’s anywhere close to healthy, someone will trade for him.
No they won’t because he will not be playing for them, since he thinks he needs season ending surgery.
Jalen Ramsey’s back was in bad shape until it wasn’t. I don’t think it’s the same, I’m a Raider fan, and I like this guy. But he may be willing to put it off until after the season for a competitive team
if he’s saying he needs surgery then he is going to have to take a significant pay cut wherever he goes.
He’s said 3 doctors have recommended surgery. Not only would that make no one interested in trading for him, but it would cause him to lose his grievance. This isn’t even remotely similar to the Ramsey situation.
Bottom line is he wants the surgery now because he knows the Jets can release him at the end of the year and owe him nothing. I’m sure numerous players can get doctors to say they need surgery but they play through it until after the season. He wants to be ready when free agency hits but he wants his $$ money for this year. Just cut him. He sucks anyway.
If he sucks the Jets may want to hold onto him, seems to be their whole thing this season. I wonder how long it is before Bell and Moseley opt out of playing for the rest of the year
Zach do you know the rules about how the league could handle this dispute? Is there any way a third party doctor could examine him or something?